FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The FEEF prize patrol spread some holiday cheer recently to teachers in the six Fairhope public schools, awarding $25,000 in Classroom Grants. To date, the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation (FEEF) has awarded 444 grants totaling more than $220,000.

“We really appreciate the creativity and resourcefulness of the teachers and students who submitted grant applications this year. There were a number of great ideas in areas ranging from technology and math to reading and the arts,” said Ashley Baker, FEEF Classroom Grants chair. A total of 38 grants were awarded this year.

For example, Tiffany Irby at Fairhope Elementary wanted to encourage her students in writing through digital hardware and software. Her grant titled “Digital Storybook,” will allow her to publish student-created digital storybooks and digital recordings of their favorite stories.

Similarly, Vanessa Pate at J. Larry Newton received a grant for her middle school students allowing them to have access to digital storytelling as well as to record and publish themselves through podcasting.

Linda Waselkov at Fairhope Intermediate wanted her students to have hands-on experiences with alternative energy sources and wrote a grant for kits that would allow students to experiment with wind and solar energy.

In “Making Math Interactive,” Fairhope Middle School teacher Donna Ferrill was awarded funds for Activotes which go with the Promethean board system, creating an interactive learning environment and providing immediate assessment by the teacher.

Three judges per school independently score each of the grants submitted. Teachers’ and students’ names are omitted from the grant applications reviewed by the judges. Scores are tallied to determine who receives grant monies, which are allocated to each school based on student enrollment.

Teachers receiving Classroom Grants are as follows:

• Fairhope K-1 Center: Lora Darden, Katy Madson, Jenny Douglass.

• Fairhope Elementary School: Tiffany Irby, Claire Thomas, Barbara Ramsey, Amy Jones, Emilie Workman.

• Fairhope Intermediate School: Claire Reeves, Amanda Smith, Terry Lees, Susan Mitchell, Linda Waselkov.

• Fairhope Middle School: Diana Ringers, Cindy Florey, Brenda Saltz, Donna M. Ferrill, Chad Keith, Diana Ringers, Kelly Keith, Kelly Lanicek.

• J. Larry Newton School: Felicia Gardner, Amy Long, Christine Sealy, Emily Pharez, Missy Busby, Tricia Hudson, Julie Tassin, Theresa Frank, Lori Havard, Vanessa Pate, Jean Ingram.

• Fairhope High School: Laura Bodenmann, Amy Plunkett, Julie Lazzari, Julie Lazzari, Margie Szedlmayer, Tonya Halterman, Kay Brown, Lori Boyce, Kathy Williams.

Founded in 1996, FEEF’s mission is to provide and promote educational enrichment opportunities for all Fairhope public school students.